Court Records

Although courts are subject to Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, public access to most court records is typically provided through other means. Many court records are publicly accessible via free online portals and others are available pursuant to fee structures set by statute. Civil case information may be obtained through the Prothonotary, criminal case information may be obtained through the Clerk of Courts, and orphan court information may be obtained through the Register of Wills.

Please note that although the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, District Attorney’s Office, and Public Defender’s Office each have an Agency Open Records Officer, many or most of their records are protected by privilege or otherwise exempt from production under the Right-to-Know Law.  For any records which do not fall within those parameters, you may send a standard RTK request form to the respective Agency Open Records Officer via the contact information below:

Within five (5) business days of receiving your request, the Agency Open Records Officer will send you one of the following responses:

• Notice on how and when you may inspect or obtain copies of the requested records;
• Notice that additional time will be needed to process the request; or
• Notice that some or all of the requested records are not subject to production pursuant to the RTKL.

If you disagree with the response that you receive, you may file an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA  17101-2234.

The Agency Open Records Officer maintains the right to request permissible fees in responding to a RTK request, subject to the official fee schedule adopted by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.